J&K Assembly Resolution on Special Status not Rejected: CM
Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Mar 03:
Praising the former Prime Minister of India, Late Manmohan Singh, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said that during his tenure, both the countries (India-Pakistan) were very close to resolving the Kashmir issue and said that he would not be to see it happening again in his lifetime.
Asserting that former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh had made significant progress in resolving the Kashmir issue, Abdullah said, “Manmohan Singh as a Prime Minister tried to solve the Kashmir issue by carrying forward the legacy of the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.”
“He (Manmohan Singh) could have stopped the process of dialogue but instead, he continued shouldering it as a huge responsibility,” said Chief Minister Abdullah speaking on obituary references in the House on the first day of the Budget session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Paying tributes to the former Prime Minister, an emotional Abdullah said, “At a point, India and Pakistan had almost come close to resolving the Kashmir issue during Manmohan Singh’s tenure but I think it can never be reached now.”
“I don’t think I will ever see it happening again in my lifetime as close as we came to resolving it during that period,” he said.
Referring to the 2010 situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said that working groups were formed to heal the wounds of the people and even at present, similar exercise is important.
However, referring to the world’s highest railway bridge constructed on the River Chenab, Abdullah said, “We are waiting for the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) to inaugurate it and the dream of the train to Kashmir fulfills soon but I want to say that the work of
India -Pakistan close to
connecting Kashmir with the rest of the World started at the time of the Banihal tunnel and I was on board with the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the train.”
“Construction of the bridge on river Chenab started during the tenure of Dr. Manmohan Singh,” he said, adding that it is unfortunate that he did not live long enough to see the train passing from the bridge.
On the simplicity of Manmohan Singh, Abdullah said, “studied under the street lights, he reached Oxford and Cambridge and started his life as an officer but reached the position of the Prime Minister.”
“Manmohan Singh has played a key role in stabilizing and making India’s economy one of the strongest at the global level not only as the Prime Minister but also as the Finance expert and Minister,” he added.
Omar said, “he ended the License Permit Raj, and took social welfare measures like Indira Awas Yojana and MGNREGA, which are commendable.”
On Kashmiri Pandits, Abdullah said, “Manmohan Singh during his tenure settled the community at the biggest Jagti Township colony in Jammu and also reserved jobs for them.”
Abdullah recalled Manmohan Singh’s farewell press conference and said, “Manmohan, in his last press conference, said, ‘History will be a better judge of me than contemporary times.’ All world leaders respected him.”
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will be presenting the budget for the first time in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on March 7 as he holds the Finance portfolio.
The previous five budgets were presented and passed by Parliament in the absence of the Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, while the then governor Satya Pal Malik led the state administrative council to pass the budget for 2019-2020 following the fall of the PDP-BJP government in June 2018.
This will be the second assembly session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly since the formation of the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory.
Earlier, the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly met in Srinagar from November 4 to 8, within 20 days after the formation of the government, but witnessed continuous disruption by the BJP over the passing of the resolution by the National Conference seeking restoration of special status.
The resolution on special status passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in its first sitting last year has not been rejected by the Central government which is a big thing, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday and asserted that there was no need to bring any other resolution on Article 370, which was abrogated in August 2019.
The chief minister said all legislators need to work together to help the government to fulfill its priorities for public welfare.
“What we have to do was done in the first (assembly) session (in November, 2024). The resolution is still holding after passed by the House. The PDP and others helped us in passing the resolution and it is still holding is a big thing,” Abdullah told reporters outside the assembly here while responding to a question that some members are planning to bring a fresh resolution to condemn abrogation of Article 370.
The 40-day Budget Session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, having a total of 22 sittings, began on Monday with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address.
The chief minister said some people were thinking that any resolution on special status will get outrightly rejected by the Central government.
“The resolution was not rejected and the fact of the matter is that it is still holding so there is no need to talk further on this,” he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly passed a resolution on November 6, asking the Centre to work out a constitutional mechanism for restoring special status of the erstwhile state. Abdullah said the National Conference will not repeat what it had already done.
“It is not like that we will repeat this thing. What we have to do was done in the first session. If we had not brought that resolution, then there was a possibility of holding discussions on it. We bought a resolution and the House passed it with majority so what is there to talk further on it,” he said.
The chief minister said the House will meet on Tuesday to discuss the lieutenant governor’s address and the members are free to raise their issues in the House.
“There will a talk inside the House and not outside it. This is not the way,” he said when asked about the protest by independent MLA Khursheed Ahmed, demanding justice for the families of two persons killed in Sopore and Kathua recently as well as restoration of Article 370 and statehood.
Abdullah said the government will respond to the issues, which will be raised by the members in the House.
“The lieutenant governor was speaking on behalf of the government, highlighting its priorities. The members need to cooperate as we have to achieve the goal together,” he said.
The chief minister also ruled out any alliance with the BJP and said there is no scope or need for such a thing.
“We both have different ideologies and there is also a difference of heaven and earth on our approach with regard to J&K,” he said. (Agencies)
